I got a note in email this morning from egale Canada, the organization that promotes equal rights for Gay and Lesbian Canadians. It read, in part:
Egale is writing to you because the upcoming Census 2006 treats same-sex couples unfairly. We’re hoping you will take a simple action to show your support for same-sex couples across Canada.
The census form instructs same-sex couples who are married to check the ‘Other’ category at the bottom of the list of relationships, rather than checking the top box marked ‘Husband or wife.’
Egale Canada, the national organization which advances equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-identified people in Canada, is recommending that same-sex married couples list their relationship as ‘Husband or wife’ rather than ‘Other.’ According to Statistics Canada, either response will be captured correctly as a married same-sex couple. In addition, Egale is calling on all concerned Canadians to add a comment on Page 6 of the questionnaire, such as ‘Same-Sex couples deserve equal treatment.’
Please take further action to make express your support for same-sex couples. Please visit http://www.egale.ca/census2006, and see how easy it is to make your voice heard.
Apparently the folks running the census missed the debate last year where same-sex marriage became the law of the land.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
